paine



Feb. 14, 1956 2,734,383

J. P. PAINE METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR CONTROLLING THE ANGULAR MOVEMENT OF A BODY Filed Nov. 20, 1952 9 i 19a 01:44:04 I I Jha/uzm/a Pan/:4. flan/001mm hfl/F/i" A/lrn/aIAr 4 /F/ g INVENTOR dasapx/ r? p4/A/E' BY M ATTORNEY t er 'for'kinetic energy ,produced ot ternal control .surfaces fin .a lm'annejr .to a

vetted 'by reduction gearing to :gov'erned'bya translationofthekinetic teiiergy i e 'by asmall :rnass movingat high speed ithroughreidiiction inetic eiiergy te a United States Patent METHOD "OF AND arraimrns non common- ANGU RMOVEMENEI 10F A BODY mesh 13. 125m ashram, ass gns; taj' Aitriitt 'Arhiaiiieii'ts, Inc.', Bantam, 8;, a eor'poratihri of Maryland :ApplicationN'ovember 20, 1952, Serial .Norts mob 8 Claims. (31. "72th 'Thisinveiition relates. ma lac-tamer an a paratus ntr'olling 'tlieaiignlar. enj'en't' er-a ma ahapar V ly an'hn'restrama bddy inrelh M p It is the ebj ect or em hases: invention to provide a riig'g e d and reliable system for imposing an effe' iye con 'rol uponairee body in .space by means'er kinetic energy carriedby the-body. P p I H p It is a fiirther object of the invention to provide. a simpleself-operating control syeftem anew rts capable Storing an adeqliatehmoilhf ofcdfitrol eti eiig yjn a small sp'aee. p I Y A Itis a turtherobject rtheis'v'emio -ta-p {aeolif masse whlch lends itsel'f -to traifisiriissionltothe cen'tiiolledibody byriieahs or meehanicahl'ectficzil, afic, fluid pressure coiit'rols-o'r etimbinations or V 'It isano'th'e'rtihjeehof.theiinverition lto iqtiti f r the control of a free'bodyjiiispace siich as a i remade, guided missile hr simi ar body 11m p f must h funetioii usuallyperfbrmed by means of a foils or M The control is imposed'by rotar in etic en ,gy is either generated on the body w 1 e ment or flight, or whiehiis set in vmotionbefore =the" l ).ot 1 y is 'laiinched in preparation for .utiliaatien .as .a control 'for ce's'hoiild the-need therefor a'rise 'It is another object of the m ntras to'iltil kinetic energy generated by aerotat ing nias's su s ma ll flywhel rotatihglat high d Wh' .1 great force to transmit a torque to a b eentro thereon, in responseto a sensing me The invention'proc'eed's sprints practised:ggiittsiiiag gearing which serves to translate the k large force'acting at a .lowspeed. .lftds'ired, ithe searin means may be arranged.rernotelyifrom the baayaaa the control impulse may be transmitted to the body by radiant energy.

Other objects and purposes will appear from the detailed description of the invention following hereinafter, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, wherein Fig. l is a schematic layout of a preferred embodiment the" .is in move- '2 of the apparatus to attain the results of the invention; and p ;2 ,is a schematic circuit showing th'e's'ens'ing means for executing the ae'sir acomro1 on the body. I

In Fig, 1 Lisjsh'ow'n the platform 'B'o'f the bodywhich 5 mayiss'iim'e theIfo'rm of a rocket, -a g'irnbaled platform, a {guidgiimis'sile or .thel like, which it is flsirecl to orient ion'g the a'iis 'AQA'. on the bodylis mduatearo; rotation along a common axis 'a pair q' f rotors 1, 1', which operate .atfiliigh speed in opposite directions, The comhf r'oto'rsl, 1f which are m'ouiitedinbeara "tithe Beqy'B- a'rana 't'o the axis A A. heidriven "by electric motors, 'airjjets or these prime movers inayibe either. carried.by the body, .or IhQI-ptor may be'bi'olightiip t'o adesiredjspeed byHdetachablf time irio'vers. When the re,- tors'have reached their ifcirni'ail raining speed the driving power may or ;may not be re i1, depeiiding upon the .dycle'5f jdiity etiiliiejdfdf thedcyiee. Thus, the desired cohtitel may the "5f a one shot? nature so that it is satisr (its come .to rest a fterit'heir lentrollihg t ne therotryjkinetie ehergy een ex ended. Oh the other'h'ahd, t me rotiirs efdiive' ii l eoii anny the control elfe'cts ihaybe'iihpos i-ep'atedly as the need therefor arises. t The r tors and 1f are coupled to reduction {gears '2 and res'peetivelyfahd t emee a ii'cai transmission from in (the r at 'tbgtii a 75th: hiEh-iiiaybe rii'oved laterally tinder inseam hejs nsing' means w uple-thje disc 7 to either the'eliiteli plate '3 on. The enga ement or dis 7 either clutchplate serves to transmitatorque tive ptare"a,or's'jb pmaue ng n ang'illar the rbtoi" or 1". For eXample, if the I tithe right so that the saine is in envvith c lutch,plate3, a torq u'efisproduced on the e direction, Whereas if the disc Tis nio'wied ,y es in meat with the dis 'c platei a 40 l he is ransinitted'to the "bb'dy Bin the opposite direction. t ,t

I Whileithe hitch iii tli'e'illiistratedembodimentofthe w as a use type elutcaanvjtypebr clutch u s iconipnenmatic, magnetic, or fluid erect-iron ina liquid medium. not absolutely necessary, 'stic such that the output tior alto the, inpiits'ignal of the clutch. :eomrqned through a sensing deviee'; and y c e1 eircuits which a e preferably ro'l'body. ,Th e'se ctsmrolsare housed 'mayinclude'a rate orpositio'n sensia gyroscope, a potentiometer, or a easuring device. These elements ,7 er detail in Fig. 2. 'For example, the splac'ement gyro'scop'e on the body, senses a distlirb'ance inftherollg jijnlgle 6f 'thei body "from the desired x; we her'en the gyroscope fpick'oft transmits this "an which my be electrical, electrol iydra' iilie or pneumatic. The s thrt'itigh a stabilizing network .to p r lit'y to the system so that the same 0 rate transient or stray effects, which stashare well known in the art. The sta- 'er'eafter pass through a,p ower amplifier 1 1 po sefthe desired control upon themovable mem'ber'7 o'f'th'e' eluteh assembly.

As explained above, the kinetic energy of either rotor, as transmitted through its respective reduction gear, is 70 coupled to the body by means of the clutch which serves to decelerate the respective rotor. Thus, the energy removed from the rotor performs work on the controlled i ricoritaiiieriil and t e de is l h as body. The limit of the control which is available is determined by the angular momentum of the rotor and the work necessary to maintain the control for a predetermined length of time.

The reduction gears 2 and 2' serve as torque and inertia amplifiers since the inertia of the rotor as viewed from the body becomes InN where In is the rotor inertia and N is the ratio of the gear box. The torque on the rotor produced by the clutch becomes Tc/N where Tc represents the clutch torque.

Thus, as explained above, the system is characterized by a high degree of simplicity by virtue of its few moving parts which is capable of producing relatively high controlling torques without large energy input to the system. This results from the energy storage characteristics of the spinning rotors.

The system becomes inoperative as soon as the rotors have come to rest, which is highly desirable in certain one-shot control systems.

In accordance with the invention a body may be controlled with no external forces or action, such as by jets or airfoils, which is highly desirable in some cases.

While the spinning rotors have been illustrated in the preferred embodiment of the invention as being arranged co-axially, the system is operative when the axes of the rotors are merely parallel in order to develop the proper moments.

While I have described my invention as embodied in a specific form and as operating in a specific manner for purpose of illustration, it should be understood that I do not limit my invention thereto, since various modifications will suggest themselves to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of my invention, the scope of which is set forth in the annexed claims.

I claim:

1. The method of controlling an unrestrained body in roll which comprises affixing to the body a pair of sources of rotary kinetic energy rotating in opposite directions and on axes parallel to the axis of roll of said body, and selectively coupling only one of said sources of energy to said body at a time in response to a predetermined roll of said body to expand at least part of the kinetic energy of said one source on said body and thereby to exert a corrective roll control thereon.

2. The method of controlling the angular rolling movement of a free body in space around a predetermined axis of said body which comprises mounting a pair of sources of rotary kinetic energy rotating in opposite directions on axes parallel to said first-mentioned axis, and selectively coupling only one of said sources of energy to said body in response to a predetermined angular variation in said body to transmit at least part of the kinetic energy at a time of said one source to said body and thereby to exert a corrective control thereon around said first-mentioned axis.

3. The method of controlling the angular rolling movement of a free body in space around a predetermined axis of said body which comprises imparting rapid rotary motion to a pair of masses arranged on said body to rotate in opposite directions on axes parallel to said firstmentioned axis, translating by reduction gearings the kinetic energy of said masses to corresponding energy of reduced speed and increased force, and selectively coupling only one of said reduction gearings at a time to said body in response to a predetermined rolling deviation of said body to convert at least part of the kinetic energy of said reduction gearing to a torque on said body in a direction opposite to said rolling deviation to exert a corrective control thereon around said first-mentioned axis.

4. The method of controlling the angular rolling movement of a free body in space around a predetermined axis of said body which comprises mounting a pair of sources of rotary kinetic energy rotating in opposite directions on axes in parallel to said first-mentioned axis, translating by reduction gearings the kinetic energy of said sources to corresponding energy of fractional speed and multiple force, and selectively clutching only one of said sources of energy at a time to said body in response to a predetermined positional variation in said body to transmit at least part of the kinetic energy of said one source to said body and thereby to exert a torque and consequent corrective control thereon around said first-mentioned axis.

5. An apparatus for controlling the angular movement of a body around a predetermined axis thereof, comprising a pair of oppositely rotating masses mounted on said body on axes parallel to said first-mentioned axis, a member fixed to said body, sensing means responsive to a deviation in the angular position of said body, and means controlled by said sensing means for selectively coupling said member to one or the other of said pair of rotating masses depending upon the direction of said deviation to transmit a torque to said body in a direction to counteract said deviation.

6. An apparatus for controlling an unrestrained body in roll around a predetermined axis of roll, comprising a pair of oppositely rotating masses mounted on said body on axes parallel to said axis of roll, reduction gearings terminating in rotary elements for converting the energy of said rotating masses to corresponding energy of low speed and high force, a member fixed to said body, sensing means responsive to a deviation in the angular position of said body and to the direction of said deviation, and means controlled by said sensing means for selectively coupling said member to one or the other of said rotary elements depending on the direction of said deviation to transmit a torque to said body in a direction to counteract said deviation.

7. An apparatus for controlling the angular movement of a body around a predetermined axis thereof, comprising a pair of oppositely rotating masses mounted on said body on a common axis parallel to said firstmentioned axis, reduction gearings terminating in rotary elements for converting the energy of said rotating masses to corresponding energy of low speed and high force, a translatable but non-rotatable member fixed to said body, sensing means responsive to a deviation in the angular position of said body and to the directionof said deviation, and means controlled by said sensing means for laterally moving said member to selectively couple it to one or the other of said rotary elements depending upon the direction of said deviation to transmit a torque to said body in a direction to counteract said deviation.

8. An apparatus as set forth in claim 7 wherein said sensing means is carried by the body and comprises a displacement gyroscope, and amplifying means for the movements thereof between said gyroscope and coupling member.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

